Fresh Galaxy Note 2 rumors suggest IFA launch, 5.5-inch screen

The Samsung Galaxy Note is one of the surprise success stories of the past year, and as a successful product, it's no surprise to see rumors of successor circulating. The latest Galaxy Note 2 reports give some pause for thought, however. Korean news site MK says it's talked with "an official familiar with Samsung's product development," and is claiming to have details of the next Galaxy Note, including some tentative hardware specs, and news that it'll launch at this year's IFA consumer electronics show in Berlin, Germany.

The IFA news isn't too surprising when you consider that's where the original Note made its debut in 2011. But the reported spec list makes for tantalizing reading -- a 5.5-inch screen, quad-core CPU and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean are all claimed for the Galaxy Note 2. And there's the suggestion that the camera may be upgraded to a 12 or 13MP unit, compared to the 8MP sensor in the original Note. Interestingly, Samsung's thinner, lighter Unbreakable Plane (UBP) display tech will apparently not be debuting in the next Galaxy Note, with the manufacturer instead opting to save it for the next major product, MK says.

If the Note 2 does launch at IFA, we can probably expect a Q4 international release, which would tie in with MK's​ reports that the new phone-tablet hybrid will be positioned to compete against Apple's next iPhone.

Given the popularity of the original Note, a successor was always going to be on the cards, and everything MK​ is reporting certainly sounds feasible. Whatever Samsung shows at IFA this August, we'll be there to bring you full, live coverage

This is gonna be interesting. I am seriously on the fence about what my next phone will be. Currently, I am an iPhone 4 user with a contract up in November. While I like the iPhone, I have been really digging the size of the Note for its usability as a PDA (plus, ICS has SOME feeling of my old beloved webOS). Had they brought the Note to Verizon, I would have likely already changed over (kinda glad they didnt now that the 2 is being released so soon!). I am also a Blackberry user (work phone and pre webOS phone)and I would also be interested in a Blackberry 10 device (but I dont think I will be able to wait that long.

So, in November, it will be iPhone 5 vs Note vs Waiting (for BB10)vs ???who knows???.... this is gonna be tough.

This is a great idea to solve the problem of less fragmentation, but manufacturers want to make more phones for profit, and it also ruins one of the biggest advantages Android has over iOS. What is that? Diversit. Choice. Slide out keyboards, portrait keyboards, small screen, big screen. Low end phones for people who don't give a crap about super high end specs but want a phone that gets the job done with Android.
The Samsung Galaxy Ace is definitely not high end. 200 something MB of RAM, 800 MHz CPU ARMv6, but its insanely popular outside the US and people within the US are buying it on eBay.
Even now, whether someone should get the Galaxy Y or Galaxy Mini 2 is pretty common. Its a question on Youtube reviews' comments 0_o.
Apple is criticized by Android fans (like me) for forcing their customers onto a single device every year. Android won't be much different with 9 per year, and without those other
manufactures like Huawei (sounds dumb but look at the Ascend's success).

5.5 inches? On a phone? Why? Where would that go comfortably? I've never tried to pocket the original Note. But this just seems too big. The 4.7 I've got on my EVO LTE is as big as I could see myself going.

Yeah, I said that with my 3.2" touch pro 1, I said it again, with my 3.6" touch pro 2, damn it, I said it again with my 4.3" evo and wouldn't you know that I said it again with my 4.7" evo lte? So I will say it again, 5.5" for a phone really is to damn big but if it has a 1080p screen I may end up getting it anyway then say that anything larger than that is too big.

One thing for me is that my evo lte (4.7" screen) is more comfortable than my evo shift (3.6" screen) in my pocket.

The main reason is because the evo shift used to fall over sideways in my pocket all the time so that the longest part of the phone was perpendicular to my body. With the larger phones, like the evo lte, they tend to stay upright so even though they may be bigger the longer part of the phone is running parallel to the length of my leg which is more comfortable.

Kind of hard to explain but it is surprising that the larger phones work better in my front pockets than the phones that are smaller. Not sure how that would translate to a phone with a 5.5" screen but I'm guessing the phone is still narrower than the length of smaller phones that tend to fall over in my pockets.

In 2011 no one cared about the Note 1 ( Niche Phone ) So AT&T said "We will take it.. On an Exclusive for 6 months" The rest is history.

You can bet your ass, *All 4 Carrier's* will have a version of the G-Note 2 just like they have a version of the S3.

Glad I passed on the S3.

I won't give up my Verizon unlimited data for this phone like someone in an earlier comment said, but I sure would pay retail for it.. which is what I would have to do anyway since I am in the middle of my contract term.

Let's see: save $150.00 a month from now until Black Friday..... Yep.. That will do it!

Processor I don't care about. They all run great and you will never notice the difference in use. Display, on the other hand, is something I do care about. I will never buy another phone with a pentile screen after using the Nexus S. I hate pentile.

I dream of pentaband for the Note 2... or at least I have delusions of pentaband to keep me from buying the T-Mobile Note coming out soon. I don't care about 42 HSPA+, 21 is fine as long as it has the AWS bands.

I have been sticking with my Nexus S 4g, but if Sprint gets the Note 2 I think I might get one of these. I would only talk with a headset though and seeing as I don't use up my 450 anytime minutes anyway this cell would be a good fit for me.

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